Noida police justifies arrest of Aarushi’s father

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Facing allegations of wrongly arresting Noida-based dentist Rajesh Talwar on suspicion he was involved in the murder of his teenaged daughter Aarushi, the Uttar Pradesh Police has justified its stand in the Supreme Court. “After having been prima facie satisfied with the involvement of Dr. Talwar in the crime (the murder of Aarushi and domestic aide Hem Raj), he was arrested by the investigating officer,” the Noida police said in an affidavit submitted to the apex court earlier this week.

“Dr. Talwar was subsequently produced before the chief judicial magistrate by the investigating officer in conformity with the provisions of the law and the magistrate, on the request of the investigating officer, and having been satisfied with the material placed before him, ordered a judicial remand for Dr Talwar,” the police added in its affidavit.

The police submitted the affidavit to the apex court in response to a public interest lawsuit by a city advocate Surat Singh seeking directions for evolution of a mechanism to ensure that the media, while covering the ongoing probe of a crime, does not end up tarnishing the image of the victim or his family.

Facing allegations of feeding half-baked information to media on the probe into the murders of the 14-year-old girl and the domestic help, the police asserted that “the information to the media was passed on not to malign the image of Dr. Talwar in public but the same was done only to repel speculation”.

“There was sufficient evidence, which prima facie proves the involvement of Dr. Talwar in the double murder,” asserted the Noida police, which probed the double murder till May 31.

The Noida police had arrested Talwar May 23, while the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation May 31.

Talwar was later let off by the lower court after the CBI admitted that it had found no evidence of his involvement in the murder.